FOA: What Is It and How Can It Help You Get a Grant?

FOA stands for Funding Opportunity Announcement. This is something you will need to know if you’re interested in securing federal funding for a project or program. Due to the importance of federal grants, GrantWatch provides a special search tab with close to 300 Federal Grant listings!

Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Defined

To define: FOAs are official notices used by federal agencies to publicly advertise available federal grant funds. Requests for Applications (RFAs) and Program Announcements (PAs) are the two types of funding announcements that nonprofits keep returning to again and again. However, there are also Parent Announcements, which are a kind of PA, and Notices of Special Interests (NOSIs), which are used to highlight specific research topics. Let’s go over each type of announcement and what they mean in more detail.

Which FOA Is Right for Your Nonprofit?

• RFAs (Requests for Applications):  If your nonprofit needs funds for investigator-initiated research, an RFA is ideal. It could be in the form of a grant or a cooperative agreement. However, be aware that the latter involves working closely with federal agency staff. Check the FOA details for obligations, deadlines, and award specifics.
• Program Announcements (PAs): Another type of FOA, highlighting a scientific focus. Unlike RFAs, PAs are less specific and can be for new or ongoing programs with multiple receipt dates. They don’t have a set target date like RFAs. There are two special PAs. A PAR, with special considerations, and a PAS, with set aside funds.
• Parent Announcements: These are attractive to nonprofit organizations because they do not require a particular research area. This flexibility has more leeway to finding an FOA that meets the specific needs of your nonprofit organization. For example, parent announcements fund research for fellowships, they can be used for things like work training or even clinical trials.
• Notices of Special Interest (NOSIs): NOSIs concentrate on specific topics. If your nonprofit is into a certain scientific field, you can explore NOSIs for potential funding.

Understanding a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)

Knowing more about how a FOA operates can be a big help when submitting a request for a federal grant. The following are just a few of the many questions you need to ask to help ensure your grant proposal has the best chance of getting the funding you need.

Initial Questions:

When is the submission deadline?

Does the due date allow sufficient time to develop a competitive application?

What are the internal deadlines?

Is there an earlier deadline for a letter of intent (LOI) or pre-proposal?

Program Description:

Does your research fit the funding agency’s research objectives?

Are there any help documents (i.e., outlines, templates) linked to the RFA?

Tufts, Office of the Vice Provost of Research, Understanding a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)

Other questions deal with the document specifications, budget, narrative structure and review criteria.

Below are some of the federal grants currently available.

Federal Grants, Fellowships and Rebates

1. Fellowships to eligible Ph.D. graduate students for workforce development/training programs for marine ecosystems. Funding will include fees, tuition, travel, stipend, equipment, and supplies. Moreover, the goal is to provide opportunities to students in the careers of population and ecosystem dynamics. Goal also includes marine economics as they apply to living marine resources.
2. There are fellowships to eligible postgraduate students for coastal resource management programs. Fellows will participate in a two-year educational training program while receiving wages, health benefits, and relocation and travel support. Fellowship participants will work on pre-selected projects in the areas of coastal management and digital coastal resources.
3. In addition, fellowships of up to $60,000 to scholars, researchers, and linguists to conduct language research. Fellows will contribute to the development of scholarly knowledge by collecting, documenting, recording, and analyzing endangered human languages.
4. There are grants to state and local government for projects to increase the accessibility of public transportation systems. Funding supports planning and capital projects that will facilitate access to the subway, commuter rail, and light rail for people with disabilities by increasing the number of stations or facilities that are fully accessible.
5. Also, there are grants to nonprofits and government agencies for programs to develop housing solutions to address the housing needs of individuals with HIV / AIDS and their families.
6. Rebates to state and local agencies, nonprofit and for-profit contractors, nonprofit school transportation associations, and Indian tribal entities for the acquisition of reduced/zero-emission school buses. The goal is to mitigate diesel exhaust produced by school busses.

Vouchers and Additional Federal Grants

1. Grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs) for collaborations on climate change solutions. Funding is to promote partnerships between institutions and to advance collaborative research projects and training and exchange programs related to climate change.
2. In addition, grants and vouchers to state governments, local governments agencies, and tribal organizations to reduce carbon emissions and create jobs in the clean energy sector. The purpose is to enhance energy efficiency, reduce fossil fuel emissions, and promote stability.
3. Grants to nonprofits, agencies, schools, IHEs, school systems, Indian tribal entities, and community-based organizations for K-12 environmental-education programs.
4. Lastly, there are grants to IHEs, nonprofit and for-profit organizations, and local and federal government agencies for research projects to improve pain-relief therapeutics to treat pain.

We hope this information will be of help in your efforts to secure federal grants!

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